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I learned how a teacher use his/her physical presence and voice in the classroom?
A teacher’s physical presence and voice play a major role in classroom management. As such, knowing how to use these things properly will translate to better and more productive class sessions.
Physical presence includes the teacher’s overall appearance or presentation, gestures, movements, proximity, contact with students, and eye contact.
Good eye contact is necessary if a teacher wants the involvement of all the students. A teacher should be able to maintain eye contact when necessary and appropriate because some students may feel uncomfortable. Eye contact is also useful for the following:
- To ensure that students have understood the instructions and lessons
- To indicate who is to speak
- To check that everyone is participating in class
- To maintain discipline
- To signal the start or end of an activity
- To hold the attention of the students who are not speaking at the moment
- To encourage class participation and contribution
Gestures or body language are also a great help to teachers, especially those who are teaching beginner classes. Actions help in conveying meaning to the students. Gestures can also add visual interest and reduce the need for unnecessary TTT. Moreover, body language can be used to increase the pace or speed of a lesson and help in managing the class.
The most powerful tool a teacher can have is his/her voice. The voice can sometimes become the deciding factor in the effectiveness of a teacher in managing a class. A teacher’s voice should have the correct clarity, volume, range, variety and projection in order to ascertain the effective delivery of a lesson. Thus, teachers should know when to speak loudly in class and when to enjoy some quiet too. They have to make sure that they are heard by the students at the back but it doesn’t mean that they have to speak with a loud voice all the time. The most important thing is to be audible but not necessarily loud.
